Nepal ordered more troops to patrol highways and warned against hoarding in an effort to break a Maoist blockade across the nation, the biggest challenge so far to King Gyanendra's seizure of absolute power this month. Traffic was thin on the second day of the indefinite transport shutdown called by the Maoists to force the king to withdraw his decision to sack the government, impose a state of emergency and suspend civil liberties.
Information and Communications Minister Tanka Dhakal said soldiers had stepped up patrols and set up pickets along the highways to bolster public confidence, shaken by nine years of conflict that has killed more than 11,000 people.
"People are feeling a little more secure and more are coming out," he said, adding the government had offered to pay immediate compensation if any vehicle was attacked while defying the guerrilla ban. So far, there were no reports of violence.
"We have put out more troops, there are helicopters providing air patrols along the highways," Dhakal said. A government official said there were enough fuel reserves for Kathmandu's 1.5 million people and vowed to punish any retailer found hoarding stocks.
"We have enough stock, ranging from 15 days to a month, depending on the oil product," said Dinesh Chandra Pyakurel, secretary in the supplies ministry.
"The government has four or five monitoring teams and we will take action against the hoarders."
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